If you ever notice a fishy smell that occurs when you have a major appliance going, such as a dryer, turn off the breaker and call an electrician. Don't continue to use the appliance. We had noticed this odd, fishy smell for about a week that occurred every time we ran our dryer. I finally got smart and googled "fish smell dryer" and found out that the smell is bakelite melting. Old receptacles were made from bakelite, a kind of plastic, that smells like fish when it is overheated and begins to melt. We called out an electrician who replaced the receptacle. He told us that there was a loose connection which generated heat and caused the whole issue. Had we not fixed it, it could've caused an electrical fire.
To replace a receptacle was $162, of which $110 was labor for 10 mins of work. If you are savvy and can replace the receptacle yourself, it will cost you $12. I was afraid there was some underlying cause that would need to be fixed so I wanted a licensed electrician to do it. Now that I know it was just the receptacle, I wish I could go back and replace it ourselves. Oh well, live and learn.
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